Ventura County dog found severely neglected with collar deep in neck

CAMARILLO, Calif. (KABC) -- A 1-year-old American bulldog was found running through Oxnard traffic, dragging a frayed leash attached to a choke collar embedded three centimeters into her neck.

"The whole neck area was bloody and her whole bottom portion of her neck was very enlarged," said Dr. Heather Skogerson with Ventura County Animal Services, who believes the collar had been there for months causing infection.

A good Samaritan picked up the dog, named Levi, and brought her to Ventura County Animal Services, the state's largest municipal open admission, no-kill shelter.

Skogerson says Levi is one of the lucky ones and hopes her story will encourage others to speak up about animal cruelty. She wants to track down Levi's original owners, because she says animal abusers often commit other crimes

There's a "link between animal abuse, child abuse, domestic violence and elder abuse," she said.

Levi will be going to a medical foster home on Tuesday and will hopefully be fully healed in a couple of weeks.